Finviz Review: The Pros & Cons to Using This Stock Screener

When looking for investment ideas and tips, stock screeners are a really great idea.

The best screeners available provide a large array of different information based on unique criteria, such as P/E ratios or 12-month trailing EPS (earnings per share), and allow you to identify potential winners.

But since there are so many of them out there which one should you use?

In this article, we’re going to do a finViz review. We’ll look at the pros and cons of using FinViz – a widely known technical analysis platform for investors and traders alike.

In this article, we review the pros and cons of using FinViz – a widely known technical analysis platform for investors and traders alike.

Pros

It’s free (ish)

Well, great software becomes even better when it’s available to anyone at no cost. Despite having a premium version known as FinViz Elite, available for about $25/month, you probably won’t need it because the free version kicks ass. Especially if you are just starting out, it doesn’t make sense to pay for tools and subscriptions on a monthly basis.

Simple UI

The amazing thing about Finviz is its very user-friendly, yet powerful user interface (UI). The overall functionality is quite impressive. For instance, you can hover over any stock ticker that shows up in your screener and immediately have its stock chart pop up on screen. Cool right?

Everything is set up precisely, filters make it easy to segment the market the way you desire, and the whole screener is designed beautifully. Other screeners can be guilty of horrible design but Finviz definitely stands out. Finally, and most importantly, it is easy and intuitive to use.

3. Depth of offering

Finviz offers a great depth of technical, descriptive and fundamental information on stocks. It also offers great heat maps and insider trading feeds and displays search results very quickly and in a stable manner. News items, on the other hand, are sourced from very reputable media outlets such as MarketWatch, Bloomberg, NBC and much more. FinViz also has a blog that collates information from sources including Zero Hedge, Ritholtz, Seeking Alpha and Vantage Point.

One really interesting feature Finviz offers is backtesting. Backtesting is when one tests a trading strategy on historical data to figure out whether or not the strategy would be successful. It is an important instrument in any budding investor’s toolkit and the fact that Finviz offers it is very exciting.

4. Insider Sales Tracking

When insiders of a company start dumping stock or buying up stock it is a good idea to not be on the opposite side of that trade. Finviz provides info on insider trading so that you are not left behind. This is a fantastic feature.

Cons

Ads

Freebies come with some very common problems and such include video ads. The free version of Finviz displays video ads which can be a little annoying if you are not comfortable viewing random ads from advertisers.

Freemium model

Some of the coolest features are not available for free. Finviz uses a freemium model, so they offer the basic screener for free and ask you to pay for all the juicier stuff. If you were excited about backtesting then you will be saddened to hear that this feature is saved for paying customers. Other paid features include real-time stock quotes, advanced charting and email alerts.

The Bottom Line

Well thats it folks! Thats it for our FinViz review, you can think of it as an easy-to-use tool that is beneficial to any trader interested in technical analysis and vetting their stock picks in a scientific manner. Sign Up For Finviz And Find The Best Trending Stocks!